Family, culture, and community - Vanessa

Family, culture, and community are foundational and intertwined in shaping a child's development, behavior and identity. They provide identity, values, and social competence from birth. Families give children their basic needs from birth; culture helps them define their beliefs, and community connects children to external resources. These early interactions with all three areas are critical for growth in all areas of development. 

General Overview

Families are children’s first teachers. They establish trust and provide the structure for development. Families have expectations, beliefs, and behaviors that explain how they operate, communicate, and perceive the world. Culture influences how family's parent which guides how children interact with the world. Culture influences the values, traditions, and language that are passed down through generations. Many times, culture helps children differentiate wrong from right. Community serves as a bridge between family and the outside world. Community offers opportunities for kids to socialize, learn about other cultures, offer educational resources, and help to increase development outside the home. Through family, culture and community, children learn who they are, how to act, and create aspirations for the future. 

Developmental Milestones

The Developmental milestones for family, culture, and community are children learning social norms, values, and language through their daily routines, the care of those around them and community interaction. These milestones guide how children form identity, express emotions, and learn. Social/emotional development starts off by having trust and security and learning social interactions and advances into understanding social rules and how to have relationships with those around us.

Infancy to Toddlerhood (0-2 years):

> Form secure attachments with caregivers whose routines are influenced by their cultural beliefs. 

> Imitate family member and start social interactions like mimicking words they hear

> Learn how to express and regulate emotions which is sometimes influenced by the culture due to the value of expression or suppression in the culture

Preschool Years (3-5 years):

>Children develop a sense of belonging once they learn about their culture, language, rituals, values, and traditions. 

>Children begin to gain independence but will seek reassurance from family members when in doubt. 

>Learn to interact with peers through the interactions they have encountered with family and those around them. Their ability to cooperate or be competitive also start to show and are usually preset based on their cultural values

Theoretical Background 

Lev Vygotsky (Sociocultural Theory)

> Parents, caregivers, and peers within the culture are responsible for developing cognitive function

> Children learn to think and behave through interactions with adults and peers, using things taught by their culture.

> Learning is collaborative and children eventually become contributing members

Urie Bronfenbrenner (Ecological Systems Theory)

> Bronfenbrenner argues that a person’s development is influenced by five nested, interacting systems, ranging from the immediate environment to broader cultural contexts.

> Family would qualify in the microsystem, Culture in the macrosystem and community in the Exosystem.

Promoting Healthy Development

• > Provide a secure, loving environment where children feel heard, valued, and safe to discuss things going on.

• > Have face-to-face interactions and talk to children 

• > Teach proper behaviors, values and to be respectful of other cultures as well 

• > Have family interactions and be engaged in children learning 

• > Create consistent rituals in which bonding can occur

• > Keep the culture alive by passing down traditions, recipes, etc.

• > Participate in community events

• > Volunteer in the community